Rudolf V
Rudolf V (Rudolf Ferdinand Karl Alexander Franz Otto Ludwig Maria von Rothingren-Traugott, English: Rudolph Ferdinand Charles Alexander Francis Otto Louis Mary of Rothingren-Traugott) ''(12 December 2570 – 29 June 2638) was (among other titles) the last ruler of the Holy Luthori Empire. He was the last Emperor of Luthori, the last King of Sekowo, Mitrania and Nam-Dang and the last monarch of the House of Rothingren-Traugott. He reigned from 2589 until 2599, when a military coup d'etat followed by a popular uprising overthrew the monarchy and established the republic. He spent the remaining years of his life attempting to restore the monarchy until his death in 2638.'' Early life Rudolf was born in the Phönixstein Castle near Baden, the only son of Archduke Karl Alexander(the eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II), and his wife Princess Elisabeth of Hohenstauffen. He has two elder sisters, Josefine (b. 2561) and Stephany (b. 2564). Upon the death of his father, who died of tuberculosis on 13 April 2077, the six-year-old Charles became the new Crown Prince. The young Charles from then was raised by several very conservative advisors, mostly bishops and high army officers, who educated him in the traditional conservative way, just like his ancestors before him. After his father was assassinated by anarchists during a visit in Sekowo on 31 July 2582, young Rudolf became Crown Prince. Because his father died when the young Archduke "Rudi" was only 11-years old, he was brought up very conservative by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence. From then was educated by several very conservative advisors, mostly bishops and high army officers, who educated him in the traditional conservative way, just like his ancestors before him. Herefor, he became estranged from what was going on in Luthori at that time, as he was only surrounded by the upperclass. Rudolf came to idolize his namesake and ancestor, Emperor Rudolf III, as the ideal monarch. At the age of 14, young Archduke Rudolf started a career as a colonel in the Luthorian army. From that point onward, his fashion was dictated by army style and for the rest of his life he normally wore the uniform of a junior officer. Following the resignation of the Chancellor Von Klingelhoff during the uprisings of 2588, the young Archduke, who it was widely expected would soon succeed his grandfather on the throne, was appointed Governor of Mitrania on 6 November, but never took up the post. Instead, Franz was sent to the front in Sekowo, joining Field Marshal Radetzky on campaign on 29 November, receiving his baptism of fire on 5 December at Kadima. By all accounts he handled his first military experience calmly and with dignity. It was in Darnussia at this time that Rudolf first met his cousin Theresa, daughter of the King of Darnussia, his future bride, then a girl of thirtheen, but apparently the meeting made little impact. Holy Luthori Emperor Rudolf was only 18-years old when he succeeded his grandfather on August 22, 2589 as Emperor Rudolf V. He had an enormous responsibility, as the government was deeply in debt, and resentment towards 'despotic' monarchy was on the rise. Rudolf also felt woefully unqualified for the job. While none doubted Rudolf's intellectual ability to rule the declining Luthori Empire, it was quite clear that, although raised as the Crown Prince since 2082, he was indecisive and not firm enough to rule. Charles therefore appointed an experienced advisor, the Archbishop of Baden who, until his death in 2095, would take charge on many important decisions, as he also did with the previous emperor. The Archbishop was very unpopular amongst the Luthori, and the people blaming him for being a too much religious-conservative influence on the new emperor. Marriage On 28 May 2591, at the age of twenty, Rudolf married his sixteen-year-old cousin Theresa of Darnussia, the youngest daughter of King Constantine II of Darnussia. The marriage was initially amiable but distant. Empress Theresa still remained childless after six years of marriage, much to her distress. Medical examinations found nothing wrong physically with Rudolf, and the lack of any gaps in his hunting journal indicate that he never underwent any sort of procedure or surgery. Finally, their first and only child, Crown Prince Leopold, was born on May 14th, 2097. But the marriage was never a succes. The couple lived mostly apart from eachother, and over the years it even become clear that they even didn't like eachother, as it was an arranged marriage, and not a marriage born out of love. At first, Empress Theresa was slightly popular among the Luthori. Many had high hopes the new Empress would give the inpopular monarchy a boost. She was a young, beautiful woman, and many adored her. But this was for a very short time. Over the years, she spend more and more amounts of money on clothes, jewelry, lush parties and foreign trips, while the majority of the Luthori citizens was living in poverty The Emperor's counter coup The Emperor finally decided to launch his counter-coup on December 29, 2098. Since Baden was effectively in the hands of the junta militarily, Rudolf decided to fly to the northern city of Veilchen. There he hoped to be among troops loyal only to him, since the mainly conservative province of Hilgar was always a huge supporter of the monarchy. The vague plan he and his advisors had conceived was to form a unit that would advance to Hilgar and take it. Rudolf planned to install an alternative administration there. International recognition, which he believed to be forthcoming, as well as internal pressure from the fact that Luthori would have been split in two governments would, the Emperor hoped, force the junta to resign, leaving the field clear for him to return triumphant to Baden. However, the Emperor's plans were overly bureaucratic, naïvely supposing that orders from a commanding General would automatically be followed. Further, the Emperor was obsessive about avoiding "bloodshed" even where the junta would be the attacker. In the circumstances, rather than the Emperor managing to put together a force and advancing on Veilchen, middle-ranking pro-junta officers neutralised and arrested his Royalist generals and took command of their units, which subsequently put together a force advancing on Veilchen to arrest the Emperor. The junta ridiculed Rudolf by announcing that he was hiding "from village to village". Realising that the countercoup had failed, Rudolf surrendered on New Years Eve 2598. He was arrested and brought back to Baden, were he was grounded shortly after midnight in the Imperial Palace. With the failure of this countercoup, the hope to restore the power of the monarchy was gone. In the early morning hours of January 1, 2599 the Republic was declared, and the King boarded the Imperial plane together with Empress Theresa and their son, and they fled to Alduria, were they went into exile. Life in exile The Imperial Family fled to Alduria, were they were granted assylum by the Aldurian government. There, they've settled down in a large rural estate near Argenteuille. While leaving Luthori, Empress Theresa was managed to take an enormous amount of jewelry and treasures with her, wich she never returned. After her death, most of the family jewelry was auctioned by her son. Shortly after their arrival in Alduria, Rudolf and Theresa went separated in exile; it was an arranged marriage, following a long tradition of royal families, even if some observers alleged that she was really fascinated by her husband. Except for public appearances, Rudolf and Theresa generally lived apart. Theresa passed away in 2617, and four years later he re-married with the 22-years younger Aldurian Ghislaine Sommerfeld. Because this was a morganatic marriage (Ghislaine was a commoner), their children became no heirs to the fallen Luthori throne. Their children Maria Elisabeth (b.2621), Maria Gabriela (b. 2623) and Karl Ferdinand (b. 2627) gained only the titles Count and Countesses of Rothingren. The castle in Argenteuille became a cultural centre under the auspices of Rudolf, who cultivated the friendship of numerous prominent writers, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, and doctors. Rudolf also traveled extensively all over the world. Following his son's heart surgery during his childhood, Rudolf became very interested in medicine, and, in particular, in cardiology, and founded the Archduke Leopold Cardiological Foundation which, through its work, has saved the lives of several thousand people. Charles pursued his interests in intellectual and scientific spheres with great energy and passion. His son and only heir Leopold unfortunately died in 2633. On 29 January 2599 the newly installed Luthori government, the High Council called for a popular referendum on whether Luthori would be a monarchy or a republic. On-the-ground campaigning on the ex-King's behalf was carried out by local monarchists. The vote to retain the monarchy was only about 28%, with almost 72% of the electorate voting for the permanent abolition of the Monarchy and the establishment of a parliamentary democracy. Although the Imperial Family was allowed by the new Republican government to return to Luthori, Rudolf never returned. In 2612, Rudolf then sued Luthori at the Supreme Court, claiming ownership of lands worth in excess of €50 billion. He never won the case. The ex-emperor lived the rest of his live traveling around the world. He died of cancer on 29 June 2638, at the age of 67.